Angelina Jolie has opened up about her much publicized divorce from Brad Pitt in a new interview with Vanity Fair. But she talks about other aspects of her life too, including her health, which she says slipped after splitting from her husband and partner of 12 years.
One of the things she suffered recently was Bell's palsy, she reveals. But if you're wondering what exactly that is, then you're probably not alone as it's a rare condition with only around 40,000 Americans being affected each year.
And thankfully, for most people it's temporary and only a minority need to take treatments for the rest of their life.
So what is it? It's a neurological condition that affects the facial muscles, causing a drooping effect. As facial nerves on one side of the face shut down, sufferers will find they cannot smile on that side and may have difficulty closing their eyes.
Medical experts believe it is caused by swelling to the facial nerve. It can strike at any age, although WebMD said it is more common among people suffering from diabetes or recovering from viral infections.
It can also come on very quickly, in the space of a few hours in some cases, and some of the symptoms of its onset include more saliva production than normal, finding it difficult to chew, ringing in the ears, or noticing a change to the taste of food.
But the good news is that for most sufferers, it gets better quite swiftly too, with the effects diminishing in a few days or weeks and most making a fully recovery in three months to six months. Only in very rare cases are the effects permanent.
Treatment can include a course of steroids and antiviral drugs, and in some cases physical therapy.
Jolie said in the Vanity Fair interview that she developed Bell's palsy last year and successfully treated it with acupuncture.
She thinks her recent ill health is one of the fallouts of taking care of everyone else in her family while neglecting herself.
'Sometimes women in families put themselves last,' she said, 'until it manifests itself in their own health.'
She also talked about having more gray hairs and drier skin recently: 'I can't tell if it's menopause or if it's just been the year I've had.'
As well as Bell's palsy, Jolie said she was diagnosed with hypertension, or high blood pressure, something USA Today says has been linked to Bell's palsy as well as stress.
